using washing machine

wazza

i live in a hard water area. has anyone living in a similar area suffered from scaling? their machines i am refering to. or are there additives in washing powder which reduces this. just bought a new washing machine and have been thinking about the claims from calogen adverts which shows scaled elements from a machine. used to have a hotpoint which ran trouble free for 12 years till the bearings went. use it twice a wek and had no problems with scaling.

currently use a washing powder in my washing machine. You can also get them in tablets or liquid form. Anyone have any experience in them as which is best to use? i know they are easier/cleaner to use than powder which i leave a trial to the machine sometimes for lost socks to follow ;-)

which is the best brand at very low cost?

also i live in a hard water area. is it advisable to use the quantity specified on box? i normally put in 1/2 of a cup in.

washing cycle. some clothes have a symbol 40 with a line underneath for modern fabrics. some have a symbol 40 without a line for cottons. is it ok to wash cottons in cylce with 40 with a line underneath? there is quite a time difference between these cycles

new machine has a 30 degree wash. ok to use that instead of 40 degree

paul_h

wazza wrote:

i live in a hard water area. has anyone living in a similar area suffered from scaling? their machines i am refering to. or are there additives in washing powder which reduces this. just bought a new washing machine and have been thinking about the claims from calogen adverts which shows scaled elements from a machine. used to have a hotpoint which ran trouble free for 12 years till the bearings went. use it twice a wek and had no problems with scaling.

I live in a hard water area, current washing machine (Indesit) is 13 years old and still going strong, washes nearly every day, and has never seen a calgon tablet... I'd better start saving up for a new one me thinks... :rolleyes:

The calgon tablets do have a limited effect on scaling, but you have to consider the price of them - around £10 for 50, or about 20p per wash. Even if you only wash twice a week thats over £20 per year. Over the average life of a washing machine, say a conservative 8 years, thats over £160 - nearly enough to buy another cheap washing machine at Makro...

You may find the info and links on this page interesting. Make sure you read the bit about calgon and their postcode checker.

As for cheap washing powder, you could try the cheapest available at Lidl, Aldi, Netto, etc., and see if it works OK for you - I know people who swear by these cheap brands. If it's cheap and it washes OK, who cares what brand it is? OH usually buys the ginormous boxes from Makro when they have a good offer on - but you need a tradecard, or a nice friend with one.

You will need more powder in a hard water area. The calcium compounds in hard water bind with the detergents - you will see less suds with hard water than with soft.

I'm no expert, but I would think anything washable at 40 degrees would be OK at 30.

Fat_Boy

I live in a hard water area and add about 1/2 a cup of soda crystals to my detergant every wash. Does the same job as Calgon but only costs about 60p (if I remember correctly) for a bag!